394 WANDERINGS AND PONDERINGS 



Chapter XIII. 



[Legends of Lug.] 



It may possibly be remembered by some of my readers, that 

 in a former part of this narrative the Grouse-shooter, (now, alas ! 

 no more) the Cynophobist, and the Insect-Hunter, are repre- 

 sented as sitting on the summit of the Black Mountain and 

 communing together : further, that the Grouse-shooter then and 

 there narrated the history of the Monster of Mordiford ; and 

 further still, that the Insect-Hunter deferred the publication of 

 that history to a more convenient and appropriate time ; that 

 time has now arrived, and together with the history of the 

 Monster of Mordiford, the Insect-Hunter will now present 

 to his readers two other histories equally instructive. 



A great deal may be said or written very sensibly, (and 

 withal very argumentatively, conclusively and satisfactorily, to 

 the speaker or writer,) on the impropriety of introducing into a 

 strictly veracious narrative, legends which are not attested by 

 witnesses in whom perfect confidence can be placed ; but in 

 reply to orations and essays on this subject I would say, in the 

 first place, that I do not record these matters as facts, but as 

 fables. I would say, secondly, that the fables connected with 

 a particular spot are to be reckoned as portions of its history, 

 they are the peculiar property of that spot, and were they 

 passed over unnoticed an evident injustice would be done. 

 There are fevv^ legends, moreover, that are not founded on fact, 

 actually based on truth ; it is the sad propensity to exaggera- 

 tion seemingly inherent in man that has so altered them that 

 their pristine form is wholly lost ; this spirit of exaggeration is 

 universal. It is but a few weeks since a poor man came to a 

 most melancholy end, by the locomotive engine on a railway 

 passing over him. The penny-a-line men were instantly at 

 work ; the accident was recorded in every paper ; the cause 

 was in every instance stated to be the bursting of a boiler, the 

 lowest number of persons killed was stated at " nine ;" the 

 highest at " nearly a hundred, besides many so seriously 

 injured, that we regret to state there is little prospect of their 

 recovery." Yet mark this ! an accident did happen, and a 

 steam accident, and a man was killed; the wild statements and 

 maudlin regrets of the scribes were therefore based on truth. 



